Best Website Development Tool

[Demothesis]

What is the best website development tool?

As the team programmer and captain, I am responsible for creating my team's website. (At least, I feel that way ) I am pretty good at HTML - I've scripted whole sites in that language - but I am looking for something to speed up the process. I have NVU and am familiar with how it works, but recently I have found it limiting and frusterating - I just end up scripting it by hand! I have also worked with Front Page and really enjoyed that interface, but, guess what ... it was discontinued, and Microsoft has something they claim is "better."

Should I get the newest version of Front Page available, or step up to the plate and take a swing at what else Microsoft has to offer? They are

Office SharePoint Designer 2007
~and~
Expression Web

two different tools.

Do any of you have experience with these programs? What program should I buy?

/Demothesis

[sanddrag]

Have you ever considered looking into using a Content Management System, such as e107?

[Greg Marra]

I like Notepad2, personally. Text editing with syntax highlighting in PHP, CSS, and HTML. Sweeeet.

Wordpress and Drupal are both great, easy to use Content Management Systems that run on top of PHP and MySQL. You might consider one if you want to make your job as easy as possible

[SamC]

Even if you decide to go with a CMS, you will most likely have to do some HTML yourself in order to create a unique template for your site. So I would still get some type of text editor with* syntax highlighting.

*The syntax highlighting I feel is very important in keeping your code organized, so be sure whichever editor you choose, has it.

[EHaskins]

I use Microsoft Visual Studio. I choose it because it has ASP.net support, and also makes using databases very easy. It works fine for HTML also. There is a free version here.(Visual Web Developer)

I use Fireworks or Paint.net for graphics.

EDIT: I also like the syntax highlighting in VWD.

[JBotAlan]

I really dislike any sort of WYSIWYG editor; from what I've seen with Adobe (really Macromedia, but not anymore) Dreamweaver, you get a bunch of crud in your output. Tags you really don't need end up in the code, and when something breaks, you glance at the code, shrug, and have no solution because the way the editor nested obscure tags together, mashed with random useless bits of JavaScript, is totally convoluted and unreadable.

OK, maybe I exaggerated a little...but that's my frustration with the easy way out. I created the simplest of pages, and got a folder with 2 JavaScript files in it. Just for a page of links.

I like hand-coding. I like WordPress. Mix the two together, and you get something sweet.

Just my $0.02
JBot

[Rich Kressly]

Sharp people that communicate well and work together are the best tool. Not trying to be wise, it's true. As for actual web development, you just need to ask the team/company what they want it to look like and what they want it to be able to do .... THEN go find the best tools for THAT task that those sharp people are/can be comfortable with.

[pufame]

I'm a fan of Adobe Dreamweaver myself, I made Team291.org using it (well, the version I use is Macromedia Dreamweaver). Very similar to Frontpage if you liked that layout.

[fimmel]

i use dreamweaver and the cs3 version rocks.... as long as you use the design view as little as possible you should be good. its nice because it has auto-complete, color coding, and the cs3 version has spry built in.

its my favorite

...forest

[Joel J]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

I like Notepad2, personally. Text editing with syntax highlighting in PHP, CSS, and HTML. Sweeeet.

Wordpress and Drupal are both great, easy to use Content Management Systems that run on top of PHP and MySQL. You might consider one if you want to make your job as easy as possible

Ditto, on Notepad2.

[artdutra04]

I only use the "Code View" in Dreamweaver (color syntaxing for PHP, (X)HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc.) for coding, Macromedia Fireworks for graphics, Photoshop CS2 for photo editing, and Apache/PHP/MySQL running on my local computers for testing. The best thing about all these programs is that they are all Windows and Mac compatible, and Macs even come with Apache and PHP already installed.

But of everything, the best possible tool is you and your team. Together, come up with creative and innovative solutions. Make a high-quality website that is truly your own, that your team (and your team's grandmothers) would be proud of. Ultimately, any software you use is just a tool to help get you to your goals faster; all the real work and creatively is going to come from the pinkish blob in your head.

[Uberbots]

well it depends on your development platform. on Microsoft, the adobe products are probably your best bet. However, if you choose to use Linux, Quanta is one of the best editors out there- it is like Dreamweaver, but it used the power it could have spent on the WYSIWYG to make the code editor just so much better.... it is like that NetBeans program for java development.

it is really hard to say, but it depends on your coding preferences. if you want a balance of code and ease, use Dreamweaver. if you want a beefed up coding experience, use quanta. if you don't like coding (gasp) use some WYSIWYG out there.

hih

[Demothesis]

Wow, thanks for the feedback. Of all the WYSIWIG editors out there, it seems that Dreamweaver is the best, or, at least the most used.

What surprised me is how many of you just hand coded your sites. I already said that is what I ended up doing was coding the entire site by hand (and got a kick-butt result ), so I am happy that I am not the only one who likes it old school. As a matter of fact, I use Notepad++ (pronounced "Notepad Plus Plus") which has syntax highlighting and colorcoding for more languages than I have EVER heard of. (From C to Ruby to HTML to Java to VB to ... it has them all!!! Needles to say, I highly recomend it, but I will certainly check out Notepad2, which is what a lot of you recomended.)

As a reply to EHaskins, I do have Microsoft VWD Express Edition and was amazed by it's capabilities. I will be using it to create login capabilities for the site.

Thanks again teams!

/Demothesis

P.S. I had tons more fun coding it too, instead of creating it from the Design view.

[team 1094]

if your looking for something easy i would try Microft expression. i tried the demo verson and it was really user friendly.if you know word, excel, axcess,and power point you should not have any troble useing this program.
i don't know if they have a full version oout yet but ,it's something to look into.

p.s the demo will give enough feature to build your website, if you just want to do it the old school it will allow you to. The demo last 148 days